Where was she? What was this place? How did she get here? Claudia took small steps toward the blade of the mountain she was on top of but not too close to its edge so she didn't fall. Who knew how high the mountain was? Claudia didn't think anyone would survive a fall or jump from the mountain or any other mountain, except for superheroes, immortals, and probably an Indian actor or Jackie Chan. 'Woah… Is that a castle I see? Or do my eyes deceive me?!', Claudia thought. Claudia turned to look behind her and she saw trees of tall height, bushes, and a path in the middle halving the forest; she wasn't sure where the path led to, it was kind of dark to see anything; it was nighttime. The only thing with lights was the fireflies fluttering in the air and the light from the full moon.
There was a castle on the horizon of the mountain down the meadow. Claudia saw the castle standing tall and firm. She wondered who the king of the castle was. Claudia paused as a thought hit her. Was the strange dream she had of her being a meerkat repeating itself? But she was the meerkat, Timon, from Lion King, and she was staring at the pride lands, and she wasn't even a meerkat right now! Claudia stared at her fingers for the strong, non-retractable claws of the meerkat that is 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) long but didn't see anything. She sighed.
Staring at the meadow below, Claudia detected the motion of people. Were those people? Claudia thought she saw a market; she squinted her eyes, trying to see clearly, and didn't realize she was moving close to the edge of the mountain until someone's voice echoed in her ears and she turned.
"Yo! What's wrong with you? Are you crazy? You were—" The black-haired, pale, cute, tall, and not so much of a fashionista that was Connor, paused as he stared at Claudia with eyes a little widened. Why did he stop talking? And why was he staring at Claudia like that?
Connor had returned from the human world after his trip to the casino. When he whooshed on the path on top of the mountain, he sensed the presence of someone. Connor was surprised and wondered what this person was doing here.
"…You… What are you doing here?" Connor inquired after a while of odd silence. Claudia wondered if she should tell him what happened? She didn't even understand how she got there in the first place! Telling him that she just, all of a sudden, appeared in this place might sound bizarre, and he'd call her a crazy person. Yet, he had asked if she was crazy, so telling him that she just appeared magically would certainly make him believe that she was crazy.
"…I…umm…I just got here… The thing is—" Connor didn't let her finish the sentence she was trying to put together. He asked,
"You're human, aren't you?"
Claudia was confused. Why would a human being ask another human being if they were a human? Couldn't Connor see that she was alive, breathing, talking, and could also move? He just saw her walk almost to the edge of the mountain, and he was asking if she was human? Even Connor had his share of confusion; he was wondering how this girl he saw up in the human world ended up in his world. He had asked Claudia if she was human to confirm if she was truly a human because he had never seen her in Astoria before. Besides, Connor could still sense Claudia was a mere mortal because of her human scent.
"No, I'm not human. I'm a ghost," Claudia replied and shook her head. She ceased breathing for a second as a realization, more like a belief, hit her.
"Oi! Be careful saying stuff like that around here or else you'll truly become a ghost!"
"What is this place? Where is this place? Is this place…real?" Claudia wrinkled her eyebrows at the last question she asked. The question felt weird coming out from her mouth as the place could be real or not because she might probably be imagining things, and she was possibly sleeping on her bed dreaming again; nevertheless, it felt so real.
"What do you think?" Connor smirked. "Of course, this place is real," he gestured, "to us and non-existent to your kind." Claudia's heart skipped and just to be sure she heard him right, she asked,
"What do you mean by your kind?" Claudia needed to confirm whether her belief was right and if it was…
"By your kind, I mean, humans." Claudia's eyes widened; Connor had confirmed her belief. Claudia's lousy guess was right after all. Connor chuckled, seeing Claudia's surprised face, and said,
"Shocking, aye? However, you're not supposed to be here… I wonder how you managed to get here." His eyebrows creased. "Anyway, come with me." He turned toward the path that led to where Claudia didn't know.
"Where to?" Claudia asked after hesitating to follow Connor. If the place was what Claudia now believed it was and Connor was what she now believed he was, then maybe, just maybe, there were other mythical creatures around!
Connor paused in his tracks and groaned, looking up at the sky, and then turned to Claudia. 'Am I annoying?', Claudia thought.
"To Astoria," Connor answered and turned to start walking again. Claudia said,
"Astoria?" He paused and groaned again. Claudia wanted to chuckle because he was cute.
"That's Astoria." He pointed at the horizon, and Claudia turned to look. There were birds of some kind flying in the air. Claudia drew her eyes back to Connor, he was staring thoughtfully at Claudia. She blushed a little at his gaze.
"Come on. I have a lot of things to do that are unrelated to hiding from my oldest brother," Connor said as they walked towards the quiet path. 'So, he has brothers?', Claudia thought.
"May I know your name?" She asked.
"Okay, that's a great question which I'll give an awesome answer to because I'm amazing." Claudia rolled her eyes. "I'm the amazing Connor and the third and most awesome Prince of Astoria, you dig?" He peered at Claudia with a smug smile. Did Claudia dig? Of course, she digs. She digs shit!
"…That's interesting," Claudia said, and Connor frowned. What did he expect Claudia to say?
"Th— That's it?" Connor asked. "That's all you have to say?!" Claudia didn't say anything and just stared at him. "Ugh, anyway, what's your name? I bet it isn't as awesome as mine," he bragged. Claudia thought he was childish.
"Claudia," she told him.
"Claudia… That's kind of great I guess," he shrugged. "No formal titles attached?"
"Yes." Claudia creased her eyebrows. Connor turned to look at her and then looked away.
Walking in silence that Claudia believed was awkward, she dwelled on the fact that she was in another world. For some reason Claudia believed she knew, she wasn't fazed; Claudia had always wished she could escape from reality to a place where she could feel thrilled and captivated. Additionally, that was why she had always been in her head focusing on the imaginations and fantasies that she had always wished would come true but, of course, it was real life and nothing like the nature of fantasies happened. 'It's stupid!', they'd say. 'They're not real!', they'd spit.
However, reality, or rather, life was unreal and that was uncertain; Claudia believed life was cooked with frustration, violence, murder, backstab, pain, mockery and served chilled with hate, struggles, envy, terror, poverty, and wickedness. She had seen and read a whole lot of these things from the newspapers, magazines, television, and she had also noticed a few cruel behaviors from some people around her, but they were just strangers. Who knew how many serial killers people had passed by on the streets? Moreover, escaping into imagination helped some troubled humans stay relaxed and peaceful; it was called shifting and Claudia had done it a couple of times — it was a world, whether real or not, formed in the mind while one was sleeping but not sleeping; one had to be awake and unawake at the same time. It was like lucid dreaming, except one wouldn't be consciously aware that one was dreaming.
"Did you hear something?" Connor asked Claudia, stopping in his tracks. They were now in a spot surrounded by pretty flowers, fireflies were flying in the air. Claudia thought she saw buildings up ahead.
"No," she answered. Connor peeked around the area. Thereupon, Claudia thought she heard something rustling in a small bush.
"Stay behind me. I'll protect you and you'll see how mighty I am," Connor said, but Claudia didn't believe him. She knew he was a vampire, but he was in the irksome category of persons.
Connor took small steps towards the rustling bush and Claudia shook her head. Wasn't he supposed to know when someone was nearby by reading their thoughts or perceiving their scent? Claudia watched Connor's back as he moved toward the bush, she hadn't noticed his height before. Connor was tall, maybe 6'0, and slender.
Thud. Connor was on the ground and a girl was straddling him. She had white silky hair. The girl looked up at Claudia and Claudia's brown eyes met her deep grazing grey eyes. She smiled at Claudia, and Claudia felt warmth in her cheeks.
"Way to protect her, Con," the girl said. "He brags a lot, doesn't he?"
Claudia answered, "I've noticed." Connor was getting up from the ground. "Wow, Connor, you saved me," Claudia said in her sarcastic voice and the white-haired girl giggled.
Connor said, "Wh— Hey, don't use that tone on me! It's not like I— I can't beat her in a fight! She just caught me off-guard!" His face was red; he was flustered because a girl took him down.
"That's exactly what a wussy would say," the white-haired whispered to Claudia and they both chuckled. Claudia believed the two knew each other. Connor wanted to speak but paused when they noticed the presence of someone else.
"Shit," Claudia heard Connor say before he super-sped from the area. Claudia wondered if it was the presence of the figure that made Connor disappear. The figure that was now staring at Claudia and the white-haired girl was black-haired, serious-faced, pale-skinned like Connor, tall, slender but had a more manly body structure than Connor; something told Claudia that the person was Connor's oldest brother.
"You are?" Arthur asked.
"Claudia," she responded. Her voice was bold. Arthur believed Claudia wasn't afraid or even shocked to be here.
"Claudia," he pronounced. "Come with me."
Claudia hesitated to follow Arthur but Kara assured her that everything was fine with a nod and warm smile. Why were females always so scared of the little things? Arthur wondered because it wasn't as if he yelled at Claudia or anything. He believed females would be the ones probable to cause him headaches if he were a human being, and the headache would hurt so badly.
"Do you know where you are, Claudia?" Arthur asked when they almost reached the town. Claudia looked at Arthur and said,
"Yes."
Arthur gazed at Claudia thoughtfully as she gave a positive answer. Claudia reddened under his scrutiny. Was he surprised that Claudia wasn't scared? Or was he reading her mind? 'Shit,' Claudia cussed inwardly. She had forgotten vampires could read minds, but she hoped Arthur didn't hear her thoughts.
"I can hear your thoughts," Arthur said, shattering Claudia's heart with a lopsided smile. 'Shit, this is awkward', Claudia thought. "Indeed it is," Arthur let out, reading her mind again. She blushed and said,
"C— Can you stop that?"
"Stop what?" Arthur's face was grim. "Welcome to Astoria." He gestured. Claudia looked in front of her; there were a lot of creatures. She saw vampires, fairies flying around in the air, zombies, living skeletons, humans… 'Wait, why are there humans?', Claudia wondered.
"You would know soon enough." Arthur's voice cut through Claudia's thoughts. Grim-faced was reading her mind again. Claudia had named Arthur 'grim-faced' because of how his face had been grim since she met him, which was a short while ago, and, plus, he hadn't told her his name. Kara always said hey to some people and some creatures now and then.
"For a fantasy world, this place is pretty civilized," Claudia uttered. Arthur's gaze on her was intense. Claudia felt very, very embarrassed under his scrutiny, and she also wondered what he might be thinking. Too bad, she couldn't read his mind.
Nonetheless, Arthur was intrigued by Claudia's present behavior; she wasn't frightened but excited and…a little unsure.
"It is, isn't it? Hehe. It's mostly cos of da humans that live here," Kara explained. She had told Claudia her name back in the forest. Claudia thought she was cool, beautiful, badass, and friendly; she liked her. But Claudia wondered what creature she might be. She guessed Kara might be a werewolf or a human-sized fairy if there were human-sized fairies here, or she might be just a normal human, or maybe even something unexpected. 'Can't wait to find out!', Claudia said inwardly, and Arthur rolled his eyes inwardly. He had been reading her thoughts.
"But how come humans live here? Is it—" Claudia got cut short by Arthur. He asked,
"Do you prefer to stand in the middle of the street at night to talk or to save your questions for when we get to the castle?" His voice was stern and his gaze harsh. Claudia reddened. Arthur was making her blush so much but, then again, she had always been quick to blush. Claudia didn't fail to notice Kara's eye roll before she responded to Arthur's question. Arthur was impatient.
"Umm…castle," Claudia answered shyly. Arthur thought she blushed too much.
"Good. We are almost there," Arthur said. Kara hung back to speak with someone.
The quiet but not awkward walk to the castle allowed Claudia to observe the place. She watched how every creature in the town moved with freedom and satisfaction. Every creature seemed happy to be here, even the humans. There were buildings, facilities, and houses of different kinds but no churches. Claudia thought it'd be hilarious if they had churches. Anyway, it was a refined fantasy world. Claudia wondered how all these creatures came together to live as one because it was something amazing and she admired it. 'Woah, cool skeletons in this area', Claudia thought. One of the skeletons gaped at her with its dark orbits of, perhaps, terror as they walked past a motorcycle shop. Claudia didn't expect the skeletons to have eyes rolling around their orbits; she believed it'd be creepy as fuck. But she thought their bikes were cool.
Arthur and Claudia got to the castle's gate and it opened automatically. Claudia thought it was awesome and startling; she flinched when the gate opened on its own. Claudia followed Arthur into the castle but not before she observed the castle's premises; the outside of the castle was very large but, then again, it was a castle so it was sure to be that wide and leg-hurting to walk around. Claudia imagined herself in a pretty princess gown, strolling around the castle and holding a sunflower. The interior of the castle, as Claudia expected, was widespread. She believed they were in the throne room because she saw the throne in the room. 'Ah, I bet they've had a lot of balls and parties in this room', Claudia thought.
"We have had quite a few, yes," Arthur said, prodding through Claudia's thoughts again. "And I am not grim-faced," he added. "I am Prince Arthur McKnight, the firstborn son of King Dravon McKnight." Claudia thought he was so formal. She believed he was the kind of guy to punish you if you did something wrong — a sadist. Claudia noticed Arthur had read her thoughts again because he glanced at her with a smug grin and she reddened. 'Oh, God', she thought.
"Arthur!" someone called. They turned to look, well, Claudia turned to look; it was a tall, pale-skinned, black-haired, red-lipped, muscular, powerful-looking, and incredibly gorgeous man. Claudia thought the man was hot. She thought they were all hot; Was she in hell? Permission to drool?
"That is the King and our father," Arthur whispered and Claudia's mouth almost dropped open. "Father, a new mortal," he informed Dravon as Dravon took his seat on the throne. Dravon flashed his eyes to Claudia and she blushed. What was with the reddening? Claudia bet she looked like a tomato right now. And it was unbelievable to Claudia that Dravon could be a father of how many? Claudia wasn't sure since she had only met two of his sons that she thought were hot too, even though one was grim-faced. Claudia thought king Dravon looked very young and fresh with no wrinkles, no beard, no flabby arms like madam Jojo that lived in their estate at Fairfield, and no signs of aging. 'God, bless immortality', Claudia said inwardly. She bet the man had lived for centuries.
"Hehe, yes I have," Dravon said. "I have tattoos of William Shakespeare, Tupac Shakur, and Michael Jackson, wanna see?" He had heard Claudia's thoughts, and now she blushed harder than before. He grinned, flashing his flawless white teeth and his red eyes flickering.
"So, father," Arthur began, "I saw her on the mountain's path. I think she materialized there from the human world."
"Really? Not mate classified or anything?" 'What's mate classified?', Claudia wondered.
"Affirmative," Arthur confirmed to what Claudia was clueless of. "She could tell us how she got here herself." They both stared at Claudia and her voice box constricted.
"…Er… I don't know how I got here," Claudia managed to speak, steadying the tone of her voice to make it sound casual. Was it hot in here? Oh, yeah, it was.
"You do not know or you do not remember?" Arthur probed and Claudia wanted to growl at him.
"I— I don't know… I don't remember…" She coughed.
"Hmm, interesting," Dravon said. "Tell me, do you love chocolate, umm…" He tried to learn her name.
"Claudia," she told him. "And, yes, I love chocolate."
"Arthur," he called.
"Yes, father," Authur responded. King Dravon's eyes were black now.
"She's alright," he said. "You can show her the ropes." Claudia dared look up at Dravon and his eyes were staring at her. She looked away and he chuckled.
"What kind of test was that? For two-year-olds?" Arthur asked with wrinkled brows. What did he expect Claudia to be assessed with? A difficult examination that was hard as stone? A Math test? A biology quiz? Some tough puzzles or a duel with some creature? Claudia thought a fight with a creature would've been awesome if she wouldn't die. Arthur thought his father was being ridiculous as usual.
"Oh, Arthur, people who love chocolate get positive thoughts because chocolate, when eaten while standing, stimulates the brain," Dravon explained, motioning with his hands and a smile on his young face. Claudia liked him.
Arthur rolled his eyes and said, "Seriously, father? You are being ridiculous."
"Do you know anything about sweets, son? Come here. I'll show you a video," Dravon said, bringing a phone out of his pocket. Claudia giggled. It was an iPhone. 'Fascinating,' Claudia thought.
"Claudia, come with me." Arthur grabbed Claudia's arm to leave the throne room. She heard a chuckle from the king; the king that she believed was cheerful but deadly.
Arthur took Claudia to a space that resembled a living room and it was expansive. She saw bookshelves with lots of books on them and she believed it was a library. Claudia wondered who came there to read and thought maybe Arthur did. Arthur offered Claudia a seat on the well-furnished and beautifully designed couch and she sat. She watched Arthur as he poured some drink into a gold cup; Claudia thought it fancy and believed it was wine. Or was it alcohol? She wanted to tell him she was seventeen but kept quiet. Opportunity came but once, Claudia was pleased.
"Here, it is orange juice." Her pleased face fell as Arthur told her, but she managed to smile as he handed her the cup and she took it from him.
"Thanks," she said. Claudia felt hurt when he said it was orange juice; he had put her in her place as a minor. Claudia thought he was ruthless, and she wasn't wrong. Arthur recognized what he had done because there was a smug grin on his face. 'This bit—,' Claudia cursed inwardly but didn't finish the sentence; she was reminded of how Arthur poked through her thoughts.
Arthur cleared his throat. "Do you have siblings?" he asked. Claudia placed her drink on the table in front of them.
"Yeah, I have an older brother. It's just the two of us." Arthur stared at her thoughtfully.
"Parents?" Claudia furrowed her eyebrows, but he didn't say anything else and kept staring at her. Claudia hoped he wasn't thinking she was delinquent because she wasn't.
"Yes," she answered, taking a sip of her juice that she now enjoyed. Arthur sighed and said,
"It is midnight, exactly 12:00 AM. Do you not think you need some rest? You can get familiar with the city later and we can have other important conversations, and you can also throw your funny questions at me then."